How to Make the Most of Your Day: Why Congress Avoids Government Shutdown; Biden and Xi Meeting Takeaways (The Big JOY Project)
Colorado was the first state to ban forced prison labor. People imprisoned there say their daily lives haven’t changed. Data NPR obtained from the Colorado Department of Corrections indicates that more than 14,000 prisoners have been written up for failing to work since 2019, the year after the amendment passed. Advocates and academics discuss why prison labor is so hard to dismantle — and what that means for people in Colorado and beyond. Read the story and listen to it here.
It’s easy to add joy to your life if you start small. The Big JOY project, a collaboration among UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and other institutions, found that there are 25% more happy days than there are sad days. Here’s how to try it and why it works:
The First Face-to-Face Meeting of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to the Department of Veteran Affairs: A Breakdown of the COVID Mortgage Program
A group of United States senators are pressuring the Department of Veteran Affairs to stop foreclosing homes of veterans. Thousands of veterans are at risk of losing their homes, and they were found to be at no fault of their own. These veterans took a COVID mortgage forbearance and were told their missed payments would be moved to the end of their loan. Then, the VA ended the program.
In the Al-ShiFA Hospital, thousands of people and patients are being helped by Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military is giving warnings to residents of southern Gaza to go deeper into the territory, which could cause the war to spread to areas it had told civilians were safe.
Biden met with China’s President during a four-hour visit to San Francisco. The two leaders announced new agreements to reopen military communication and reduce the flow of precursor ingredients used to make fentanyl from China to the U.S. Here are takeaways from their first face-to-face meeting in a year.
The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill late last night, avoiding a government shutdown before tomorrow’s deadline. The bill will be signed by President Biden. Four federal agencies will be funded through Jan. 19 and the rest through Feb. 2. The House and Senate must negotiate 12 appropriations bills early next year, and they could be derailed by Republican infighting.
Gaza and Hamas: What Israel can do to save Gaza, and where to keep it if it goes too late? An Israeli Prime Minister Revisited
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told NPR that Israel is committed to doing three things in Gaza: destroying Hamas, freeing the Israeli hostages it’s holding and giving Gaza a different future.
But the interview with Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep was notable for what the prime minister did not say: who he thinks should govern the territory with a population of 2.3 million, now devastated by six weeks of Israeli bombing.
Israel is responding to an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. The Israeli response has left more than 11,000 dead. Israeli troops occupied a major hospital center in northern Gaza this week.
Israel had allowed Hamas to control Gaza so that it wouldn’t have to. Israel now says it’s impossible for Hamas to rule.
It is not known who would replace Hamas in the government. The leader of the Palestinian Authority has stated that he is not interested and Israel doesn’t want that either.
Netanyahu compared the situation in Gaza to the Allies’ occupation of Germany and Japan after World War II, after their surrender, for administrative and rehabilitative purposes (such a move by Israel, however, would likely be unilateral).
Israel said Hamas had a command center underneath Al Shifa, an assertion that the U.S. has publicly supported and Hamas has denied. The Israeli military said its troops found weapons and other equipment — as well as the bodies of two hostages — in the area of the complex. But those statements have not been independently confirmed.
The hospital’s major command center and weapons, along with bombs, were found by Netanyahu’s troops. He said troops brought doctors and incubators with them when they moved in.
Hospitals are protected by the convention but safeguards are not absolute. The human rights groups are still calling for a cease-fire, but Netanyahu has stated that it’s impossible until all the hostages are released.
Hundreds gathered yesterday to mourn Canadian Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver, whose remains were found at her home in Kibbutz Be’eri. It’s believed she was held hostage after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. Silver spent her life pursuing peace in the region.
When words fail: The case of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, an R&B singer accused of rape and other serious crimes
United Auto Workers union members have voted to approve a new contract with General Motors. The union’s biggest victory in decades was a 25% wage increase over the next four years. Ford and Stellantis workers are still casting votes for their new contracts.
R&B singer Cassie is accusing hip-hop mogul Sean Combs of rape and other serious crimes. The lawsuit alleges that Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37 and that Combs’ pattern of abuse began soon after she joined his record label in 2006.
The winner of the Guatemalan president election surprised everyone this summer. The government launched a campaign to keep him from taking power. Prosecutors now say they intend to bring charges against the president-elect related to a protest at Guatemala’s public university.
When kids are upset or grumpy, parenting advice often focuses on what to say rather than what to do. But a special caress can help trigger a warm, calm feeling when words fail. It’s called yakson and malish in Korea, and piojito in Latin America. Here is what the research says about this phenomenon.
Source: Up First briefing: Netanyahu talks Gaza’s future; Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused of rape
The Secret Life of Diana and the Killer: A Conversation with Fassbender, Deggans, Hankir, and Peso Pluma
Movies: In Netflix’s The Killer, Michael Fassbender plays a ruthlessly efficient international hitman whose detached and methodical life falls apart when a hit goes wrong.
The last season of The Crown focuses on the death of Princess Diana. Critic Eric Deggans says it fleshes out an important moment for the royal family in a creative, telling way — as long as you remember you’re not watching a drama, not the History Channel.
In Eyeliners: A Cultural History, journalist Zahra Hankir explores the relationship between the cosmetic and civilization.
Music: Peso Pluma was the first regional Mexican artist to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart earlier this year. radio’s Alt. Latino analyzed the rise of regional Mexican music and how people can’t get enough of this form of Mexican folk music.